The present invention relates to an ear type clinical thermometer (or infrared clinical thermometer: hereafter referred to as an ear type thermometer) for metering a body temperature by detecting an infrared ray emitted from the inside of an ear.
In the prior art, as a clinical thermometer (hereafter referred to as a thermometer) for metering a body temperature in a medical institution such as a hospital or at home, there has been proposed the ear type thermometer for metering the body temperature in terms of the intensity of an infrared ray (heat ray) by inserting a probe (thermometric portion) into the earhole (external auditory miatus, ear cannal) and by detecting the infrared ray radiated from the eardrum (tympnic membrane) and its vicinity.
This ear type thermometer is highly advantageous in that the time period required for the thermometry is as short as about 1 to 2 secs., especially when the body temperature of an infant or child unable to wait for a long time.
In this ear type thermometer for metering the body temperatures of a plurality of patients, a probe cover, which is replaceable and disposable, is mounted to cover the probe, from the standpoints of health administrations for preventing the contagion.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,834, the probe cover is mounted on the probe such that the probe cover is fitted on the probe or such that a ring-shaped recess, as formed in the inner face of the probe cover, is fitted on a ring-shaped projection, as formed on the outer face of the probe, to keep their mounting state.
However, this mounting state by this simple fitting relation has a dispersion in its fitting strength and may be unable to keep the mounted state stably. In this case, there may arise a disadvantage that the probe cover is left in the earhole when the probe covered with the probe cover is removed after the thermometry.
Since the probe cover can be easily removed from the probe, moreover, there arises another disadvantage that the infant may erroneously remove the probe cover and take it into the mouth.
Moreover, the probe cover may go out of position from the probe, although it is not removed from the probe, to cause a drop in the thermometric accuracy.
Moreover, the probe having the probe cover mounted thereon is so tapered toward its distal end as to facilitate the insertion into the earhole (ear). As a result, the depth of insertion of the probe into the earhole depends upon the pushing force so that it is difficult to be constant. As a result, the reproducibility is deteriorated to cause a dispersion in the metered value of the body temperature thereby to drop the thermometric accuracy. In addition to this defect, the probe may be inserted excessively deeply into the earhole to hurt the deep portion of the ear.
Moreover, the thermometric conditions such as the direction and depth of insertion of the probe into the earhole (ear) may exert serious influences upon the metered value, and the deviation of the probe during the thermometry may cause a serious error in the metered value. Upon the thermometry, for example, the operation of the thermometric switch moves the hand holding the thermometer body, and the probe may deflect in the earhole. Moreover, the thermometer body cannot be stably held with respect to the face but may go out of position. In this case, the dispersion of the metered value may occur to deteriorate the reproducibility thereby to deteriorate the reliability of the ear type thermometer.
In this ear type thermometer, there is mounted a buzzer for informing of the finish of the thermometry of the body temperature.
This buzzer sound has to be set to such a large level as to inform the subject sufficiently. At the finish of the thermometry, however, the buzzer sound may be transmitted to the earhole of the subject through the probe or its periphery, because the probe is inserted in the earhole of the subject (such as the infant or child), thus raising a problem that the subject is discomforted.
If the volume of the buzzer sound is reduced to avoid this uncomfortableness of the subject, the buzzer sound becomes difficult to hear by the operator, and the finish of thermometry cannot be grasped according to the environment.
In this ear type thermometer, moreover, the time period required for metering the temperature actually is as short as about 1 to 2 secs., but an additional standby time is required for the thermometry from a thermometry to a next thermometry. Moreover, an indication is made in a display so as to inform the standby time and the end of the standby time. This indication is exemplified by letters xe2x80x9cWAITxe2x80x9d to be flashed during the standby time or a mark to be flashed at the end of the standby time (as disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Nos. 8-145800 and 2-35322).
However, this indication can inform merely the standby or its end but not the lapse of time easily.
Thus, it is unknown when the standby time ends or how long the time is left. This raises a problem that the subject is discomforted or hurt by the standby.
When the body temperature of a infant or child is to be metered, moreover, it may be unable to well-behaved for the standby time thereby to trouble the thermometry.
Moreover, the thermometric portion of this ear type thermometer is constructed to include an infrared sensor composed of thermopile having cold junctions and hot junctions, and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature (=the environmental temperature) at the cold junctions of the thermopile, so that the body temperature is metered on the basis of the signals outputted from the infrared sensor and the temperature sensor.
In this case, it is ideal to equalize the thermal responsibilities of the individual cold junctions and the temperature sensor, but this equalization is practically impossible. This raises a problem that an error is caused in the metered body temperature to deteriorate the thermometric accuracy. Especially in transient situations where the environmental temperature (the temperature of the atmosphere in which the thermometer is placed) is fluctuating so that the temperature of the infrared sensor itself is changing, the temperature of the temperature sensor and the temperature of the cold junctions become different to make an error in the metered body temperature value.
Here, it is conceivable to correct the temperature considering the foregoing defects. However, the thermometry is easily influenced by the noises and difficult to stabilize.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an ear type thermometer which is highly usable and/or which can meter the body temperature highly accurately.
More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide an ear type thermometer which can stabilize the mounting of the probe cover on the probe while improving the accuracy of thermometry, which can meter the body temperature highly accurately without being influenced by the action or position at the thermometry, which can suppress the uncomfortableness of a subject without deteriorating the function to inform the information sound emitted from a sound source, which can easily know the lapse of time during a standby time, and/or which can improve the thermometric accuracy with being hardly influenced by the noises.
According to the present invention, there is provided an ear type thermometer for metering a body temperature, comprising: a thermometer body; a probe mounted in the thermometer body and adapted to be inserted into an ear, with a probe cover, wherein the improvement comprises a screwing member for fixing the probe cover mounted on the probe.
According to the present invention, there is further provided an ear type thermometer for metering a body temperature, comprising: a thermometer body; a probe mounted in the thermometer body and adapted to be inserted into an ear, with a probe cover, wherein the improvement comprises at least one screwing member having a function to fix the probe cover mounted on the probe and having different shapes and sizes to be replaced for use.
According to the present invention, there is further provided an ear type thermometer for metering a body temperature, comprising: a thermometer body; a probe mounted in the thermometer body and adapted to be inserted into an ear, with a probe cover, wherein the improvement comprises at least one screwing member having a function to fix the probe cover mounted on the probe and having different lengths of protrusion of the probe to be replaced for use.
According to the present invention, there is further provided an ear type thermometer comprising: a probe mounted on a thermometer body and adapted to be inserted into an ear; and a thermometric switch mounted on the thermometer body and adapted to be operated at the time of at least the start or finish of thermometry, wherein the protrusion direction of the probe from the thermometer body and the operation direction of the thermometric switch are substantially aligned with each other.
According to the present invention, there is still further provided an ear type thermometer comprising a probe mounted on a thermometer body and adapted to be inserted into an ear, wherein the thermometer body includes at least one raised portion for abutting against the vicinity of the ear, into which the probe is to be inserted, to support the thermometer body.
According to the present invention, there is still further provided an ear type thermometer for metering a body temperature by detecting the intensity of an infrared ray emitted from the inside of an ear, comprising: a thermometer body having a sound source therein for emitting an information sound; a probe mounted on the thermometer body and adapted to be inserted into the ear; and a soundproof mechanism for suppressing the transmission of the information sound, as emitted from the sound source, into the ear.
According to the present invention, there is further provided an ear type thermometer for metering a body temperature by detecting the intensity of an infrared ray emitted from the inside of an ear, comprising a display composed of a plurality of segments for indicating a symbol mark in such a mode that the number of segments to be lighted or flashed changes with time.
According to the present invention, there is further provided an ear type thermometer for metering a body temperature by detecting the intensity of an infrared ray emitted from the inside of an ear, comprising a display composed of a plurality of segments for indicating a symbol mark in such a mode that the number of segments to be lighted or flashed increases with time until all the segments are lighted or flashed.
According to the present invention, there is still further provided an ear type thermometer comprising a thermometric portion for detecting the intensity of an infrared ray depending upon the temperature in an ear, so that the temperature value in the ear may be computed by correcting the detected value, as obtained from the detected signal detected by the thermometric portion, according to the change in the temperature of the environment in which the thermometric portion is placed, wherein the correction is substantially undone when the changing rate of the environmental temperature is low.
According to the present invention, there is still further provided an ear type thermometer comprising a thermometric portion for detecting the intensity of an infrared ray depending upon the temperature in an ear, so that the temperature value in the ear may be computed by correcting the detected value, as obtained from the detected signal detected by the thermometric portion, according to the change in the temperature of the environment in which the thermometric portion is placed, wherein the magnitude of the correction is given an upper limit and/or a lower limit.
Further features of the invention will be become apparent from the following description and are also described in the appended CLAIMS.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.